3. Will TOP make tertiary education free?

3. Will TOP make tertiary education free?

Answer

The evidence shows that the return on early childhood education is higher than that on tertiary education, so TOP’s priority is to invest there. Early childhood education also has a bigger impact on reducing inequality and ending the intergenerational trap that vulnerable families are in; a greater investment there ultimately means more people from poor backgrounds can achieve their potential, including going on to tertiary education. Indeed there is evidence that tertiary education is significantly askew of what we should expect from it – so the last thing we should be doing is increasing demand for a product that is not well enough aligned with the needs of business and labour.

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Agree Rachel, the universities are dominated by bureaucrats, technocrats & money could be saved by reducing their numbers. More than that it’s the bureaucratic atmosphere of the institutions – undermining universities. I’m more interested in knowing what TOP can do to put resources into making universities as places of critique & scholarship and not compliance factories.

Rachel McLaren commented
2017-03-26 07:23:18 +1300

Surprised to not see any tertiary reform. There should be some kind of fee-reduction/limits (limiting Chancellor’s and management salaries at universities would be ideal here…so little of my tuition seems to reach the actual teaching staff or necessary infrastructure), or a gradual return back to free education at all levels.

Matt Walkington commented
2017-02-20 10:06:47 +1300

Thoroughly agree with Seann. Education is about a much wider scope than business and labour, depending how one defines these terms. It is quite possible to step outside the use of economic, financial and market terminology and get the message across. Clearly, education must support the needs of individuals, groups within society and society as a whole. Not just capitalist business or labour needs.

Seann Paurini commented
2017-02-19 15:30:58 +1300

Education isn’t just about the needs of business.

Seann Paurini commented
2017-02-19 15:30:06 +1300

As a minimum I would like to see the humanities courses entirely publicly funded; i.e. ‘free’ especially, e.g. a first degree. The humanities are more important than ever now. Technology and aggressive new forms of media, advertising, ‘infomercialised’ news content – almost imposed on the population. A counter to that would be to encourage a solid grounding in humanities subjects.

catherine OSullivan commented
2017-02-19 13:11:25 +1300

Seems we have a problem with training for the future. So many Business/Accounting/Finance students come out and what are they equipped for? To appropriate more financial success and benefit to those that dont need it at the top. The amount of expensive degrees that enable our young people to further themselves into the slavery system of debt without a job at the end is completely warrantless and futile. Our education doesnt engage our children: what it means to be citizens instead it shows how we are rabid consumers. Please engage a policy toward our children understanding the political system and how to engage and play a part so they ARE our future.